Here's BOB

Boise Weekly readers know best

Each and every year, we ask you to prove it once again. For 14 years
running, Boise Weekly has been publishing what we affectionately
refer to as "BOB." You may call it Best of Boise, but we've discovered
that by personifying what is our hairiest, hardest, most hilarious
issue of the year with a human-like moniker, we're able to love it all
the more.

The annual Best of Boise issue is a contest in two parts. Part one:
BW listens to you, our readers. We concocted a list of 85
"bests"--from the best restaurant to the best day trip--and urged
readers to vote for their favorite person, place or thing in all 85
categories. Part two: BW has a little fun. We at Boise
Weekly spend all year observing the best, worst and most outrageous
moments in Boise, and BOB is a chance for us to rehash it all and feed
it back to the public with a wink, wink and a nudge.

Like all adolescents, BOB has been slowly undergoing change over the
course of several years. In 2006, after 12 years of counting
handwritten votes on paper ballots, Boise Weekly printed the
last of its old-school hardcopy ballots. Year 13, aka 2007, was the
dawn of the all-digital, all-robot age. This year, we're all local, all
the time.

Here's the way we figure it. The Best of Boise is just that--what's
best about Boise. It's not what's best about Boise and the 83 other
cities all over the country where a franchise or chain is located. And,
of course, there's the fact that Boise Weekly itself is a
locally owned and independent business.

When voters logged on to BW's polling site, instructions
requested that all nominated businesses adhere to the following
criteria in order to qualify: businesses must have a location in Boise
or Garden City, be privately held and be registered in Idaho without
corporate or national headquarters outside of Idaho. Business owners
with a majority ownership must live in Ada or adjoining counties
(Boise, Canyon, Elmore, Gem or Owyhee) and businesses must make
independent decisions regarding the name and look of the business.
Finally, a business is considered local if it makes independent
decisions regarding all business purchasing, practices and distribution
and pays all of its own marketing fees, rent and other business
expenses without assistance from a corporate headquarters.

In most cases, voters adhered to the rules. In a few cases, a number
of voters mistook corporate for local, and a winner or runner-up was
tossed out of the results. And in even fewer cases, some of the answers
were so completely ridiculous, we couldn't help but print them.